Circular knitting machine frame

ABSTRACT

A circular knitting machine formed by a plurality of subframes disposed one above the other, with the lowermost subframe comprising legs and lower crossmembers and an upper gusset on which the legs of the immediately upper subframe rest, said immediately upper subframe comprising, in turn, legs and upper crossmembers bearing a platform with its corresponding ring, the remaining subframes being of similar construction, the sides of the lowermost subframe and the immediately upper subframe forming a free opening allowing for easy, direct access to the internal space of the machine.

United States Patent [1 1 Ricart Oct. 7, 1975 CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE FRAME Primary Examiner-W, C. Reynolds Assistant Examiner-Andrew M. Falik Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Staas & Halsey [57] ABSTRACT A circular knitting machine formed by a plurality of subframes disposed one above the other, with the lowermost subframe comprising legs and lower crossmembers and an upper gusset on which the legs of the immediately upper subframe rest, said immediately upper subframe comprising, in turn, legs and upper crossmembers bearing a platform with its corresponding ring, the remaining subframes being of similar construction, the sides of the lowermost subframe and the immediately upper subframe forming a free opening allowing for easy, direct access to the internal space of the machine.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 3 of4 3,910,069

U.'S. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet40f4 3,910,069

PIC-3.6

1. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention refers to improvements in US. Pat. No. 3,590,599 which discloses a circular knitting machine in which the diverse active and passive members are distributed among successive stories defined by a plurality of subframes disposed one above another. .1

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the above improvements is to simplify the support structure, and at the same time to make it more aerodynamic and to facilitate the manipulation of the internal members as a result of greater ease of accessibility. These improvements are characterised in that the lower subframe of the structure has support legs connected by lower crossmembers and upper gussets, the legs of the immediately upper subframe resting on said gussets. The immediately upper subframe comprises legs with upper crossmembers and an upper platform with its corresponding ring, following thereafter the pertinent subframes one on another, composed as the afore described subframe, so that the sides forming the contour of the lower subframe and the immediately upper subframe afford a free opening with direct access to the inner space of said frames, through the pertinent protective doors.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the legs of the various subframes of the structure are disposed in external alignment, with a substantially vertical lower portion and an inclined frustopyrimidal upper portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ,Further objects and features of the invention will be disclosed in detail in the following description, with ref- DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present structure comprises a lower subframe 1, an intermediate subframe 2 and an upper subframe 3.

2 Thelo we r subframe l compriises legs 4, lower crossri emberss havingplates 6 under said legs and internally disposed upper gussets 7. I

. The intermediate subframe 2 compriseslegs 8 and 0 members 16 and platform 17 for seating a ring 18.

The diverse fixed parts of the structure in question are attached together by welding, bolts or other systems.

The lower subframe is provided with legs 19 at one side thereof carrying a platform 20 for carrying machine driving mechanisms. According to the arrangement of the machine, the knitting mechanisms, particularly the needle cylinder and the needle dial, as well as the corresponding cam sets, are mounted on rings 14 and 18.

With reference to the Figures, the inner space formed jointly by the lower subframe l and intermediate subframe 2 is shown to be free from lateral obstacles. This is the essential feature of the invention and affords singular practical advantages when performing handling operations in said space, set aside particularly for housing the cloth take-up beam of the machine. It is also readily apparent from the Figures that the ring from a lower subframe can be removed between the legs of the intermediate upper subframes.

Said internal space formed by subframes l and 2 is protected with front doors 21. Likewise the side areas are closed with covers 22 and 23 mounted on supports 24 and provided with ventilation grilles 25.

An alternative embodiment according to the invention comprises a special design of the machine support structure within the basic ideas given above. In this design, the external edges of subframes 1A, 2A and 3A form a continuous line throughout the whole height of the structure, thereby avoiding the steps previously existing between said subframes. So that the machine may retain its narrower configuration at the top, with respect to the bottom, said edges have a substantially vertical lower portion 26 and an inwardly inclined upper portion 27 defining a frustopyramidal portion.

As in the previous embodiment, the structure has the above mentioned accessory elements and allows the same members of the machine to be housed in the same way. The structure is also provided with the aforementioned doors and covers. It is to be noted that the only difference lies in the external appearance of the structure which, in the present embodiment, provides for greater ease of accessibility and eliminates angular areas or corners which make cleaning difficult.

What I claim is: i

1. In a circular knitting machine frame wherein the active and passive members of the machine are distributed among successive stories defined by a plurality of :subframes disposed one above the other, each such which is positioned a ring for supporting the operative members of the machine, the improvement comprising cross members interconnecting the legs of the lower subframe at the lower ends thereof, cross members in 4 the respective legs and cross members of the lower and adjacent intermediate subframes defining an opening providing direct access to the space within the subeach other, said legs of said upper subframe being in- 5 framesclined to define a frustopyramidal configuration, and 

1. In a circular knitting machine frame wherein the active and passive members of the machine are distributed among successive stories defined by a plurality of subframes disposed one above the other, each such subframe having a plurality of legs, and wherein the legs of the top and intermediate subframes are arranged to support a flat horizontal platform provided with a circular opening having a recessed edge upon which is positioned a ring for supporting the operative members of the machine, the improvement comprising cross members interconnecting the legs of the lower subframe at the lower ends thereof, cross members interconnecting the legs of the adjacent intermediate subframe at the upper ends thereof, the legs of the upper, intermediate and lower subframes being positioned in unbroken external alignment with respect to each other, said legs of said upper subframe being inclined to define a frustopyramidal configuration, and the respective legs and cross members of the lower and adjacent intermediate subframes defining an opening providing direct access to the space within the subframes. 